Week Notes 20 - 26 April 2024

Lego!

I ran my first Lego Serious Play session of the year this week! It was good to get back into the swing of things and mess around with some new ways of running sessions.

Some hot takes:

1. Lego takes more than two days to dry after you've washed it.
2. Room ambience is so, so vital. If you're running any sessions, pick rooms with good temperature control, good lighting (ideally a space with natural light) and good airflow.
3. I practised using an infuser and a pine scent to see if this had a sensory and transportive effect (see pic). Given LSP works because it taps into tactile, as well as visual and auditory, I wondered if smell would have some impact. Some people noticed it, but I think it was a little too intense in part. I suspect the 'closeness' of the room had an impact as well, so I will try again in a more open-setting... So the jury is out at the moment. And don't worry I won't be testing people tasting Lego...

It was a lovely group. There was some good feedback about the importance of people sharing their own stories and journeys.

In workplace settings, we don't often create space to talk about how we got to where we are as we are so focused on the here and now. So here's a reminder to provide those opportunities to do this!

PechaKucha

Tickets for PechaKucha went on sale this week and we've sold around half already! You can get yours at this link: pknmcr38.eventbrite.co.uk .

It's on the important topic of food and I hope we can give justice to the range of stories surrounding how we grow, consume and deal with waste in our local area.

We have a great line-up and, importantly, it coincides with the launch of the new Doughnut Economics community in Manchester. We'll be sharing more about what doughnut economics is and Graeme Heyes Ph.D. ?? is running a workshop for our audience as well. Thanks also to Catriona Watson for your help!

Next week

I'm taking part in a workshop 'Theatre of the Oppressed as Political Resistance' with Katy Rubin and Julian Boal.

Ever since I chatted with David Aula a couple of years back, I've wondered about the intersection between theatre, design and participatory action and even more so how this work might intersect with the practice of being regenerative.

That curiosity continued at the recent Fete of Britain event in Manchester (run by Hard Art - https://hardart.metalabel.com/ ) and the focus on using art and creativity to respond to the threats we face.

Baby steps for now... I am building up to doing an improv course and starting to weave these learnings more into my day-to-day work...

Watching/Reading

• I finished my rewatch of The Leftovers, which really is one of the most beautiful series out there. The story of a world where 2% of the population disappears suddenly and what happens next... It's soundtracked by Max Richter too so you can bathe in sonic brilliance throughout.
• Continuing with the existential percentages, CIVIC SQUARE released a new piece of research exploring the effect of a 3% global temperature rise on neighbourhoods. It's on my to-read list and I encourage you to engage with this important work (https://medium.com/neighbourhood-public-square/3%C2%BAc-neighbourhood-582903b050b2 )